MadLab Theatre Kicks Off THEATRE ROULETTE 2014 Today

MadLab Theatre presents Theatre Roulette 2014! In its fifteenth year, Central Ohio's longest running shorts festival presents 3 very distinct nights of new works rotating over 3 weekends culminating in the final day when all 3 nights of programming are performed.

Showtimes: 8 p.m. except for May 24th when they are at 2, 4, and 8 p.m., today May 8, Friday May 9, and Saturday May 10, Thursday May 15, Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17, Thursday May 22, Friday May 23 and Saturday May 24

The Columbus Foundation, GCAC, and OAC support MadLab throughout the year.

Back with their 15th annual Theatre Roulette, MadLab continues to crank out Columbus' longest running shorts festival. This year the festival is split up into three distinct nights of programming:

The Forgiveness Files - This night is dedicated to the works of one playwright. This year it is Kathlene McGovern and her 5 play collection about baby showers gone amok and the first and last person you meet in heaven and above all else...forgiveness.

Open Book - Featuring 7 selections chosen from over 1100 submissions sent in from all over the U.S. and beyond, just as in past versions of Theatre Roulette.

Auditions were held on January 25. 36 actors were cast in 62 roles. 7 of them will make their MadLab debuts, 15 have worked previously with MadLab and 14 are ensemble members.

The Forgiveness Files
This night is dedicated to the works of one playwright. This year it is Kathlene McGovern who makes her MadLab and Roulette debut. The night features 5 shorts by Ms. McGovern about everything from baby showers gone amok and the first and last person you meet in heaven and above all else...forgiveness.. All are directed by Michelle Batt with assistance from Amanda Bauer.

McGovern began her career as a dancer at 15, working for a small ballet company in New Jersey, then went on to perform as a singer and dancer in review shows everywhere from Tokyo Disneyland to Las Vegas to Grand Cayman and even on Guam.

After moving to New York City, Kathlene studied acting with Atlantic Theater Company. She began writing and performing stand-up at Carolines on Broadway and Stand Up New York. After studying improv with Second City and Upright Citizen's Brigade, she also wrote and performed sketch comedy and improv at PSNBC and UCB in Manhattan.

Since living in Los Angeles, Kathlene has had the opportunity to interview and write profiles on Daryl Hannah and Breaking Bad's AaRon Paul for the recently launched Blindfold Magazine and has been a regular contributor to several online lifestyle magazines. She also continued to study sketch writing at UCB and perform on their stage in L.A.

Recently Kathlene became a top-ten finalist in the national screenwriting competition, Industry Insider Television Writing Contest, with her original pilot MisSpeaks and is thrilled to have The Forgiveness Files produced for the first time at MadLab's Theatre Roulette.

Synopsis - Not in Very Good Taste
In this comedy, a baby shower goes way off course when the infertile best friend of the single mother-to-be offers to buy her baby.

Synopsis - Perfectly Safe Places
What happens when your husband forgives your daughter's killer and you don't? When a divorced couple runs into each other at the killer's parole hearing, the past six years come flooding back and we see all that forgiveness can and can't do.

Synopsis - Clean Up on Aisle Five
How differently did you look at your life when you were 20, 30 and 40? While a woman waits for her date, she explores her mistakes with her 20 and 30 year old self and has to choose whether or not she can let her present-day-self move forward.

Synopsis - Be Seeing You
When a gay man and his boyfriend pay a visit to his estranged mother, who lives in an Alzheimer's care facility, he learns the truth about his father through her hallucinations.

State's Evidence
A collection of 7 works from playwrights within the state of Ohio directed by Andy Batt.

John Busser - The Incentive ProgramJohn Busser is a Cleveland-based actor and sometimes writer who feels eminently grateful that the good folks at Madlab like his goof pieces enough to have produced five of them over the years. I know, can you believe it? Thank God there's no accounting for taste.

Synopsis - Need a new set of wheels? Then come on down and let us sell you the car you need for the price you want (whether you like it or not).

Production History - The play was first read in Oct of 2012 at the Dark Room, a writers workshop affiliated with Cleveland Public Theater.

Greg Vovos - Dream Come TrueGreg Vovos is a Cleveland writer, director, teacher and Buckeye! whose plays have been produced all around the world. Recently, he's written several plays for the Theater for Healthy Living Program which works with troubled youth on issues like drug abuse, obesity, racism, bullying, etc. He's proud to once again be part of the Roulette because he loves the MadLab. Greg also writes greeting cards for American Greetings and teaches playwriting at various colleges and theatres. He's married to his best friend and together they have two awesome kids.

Synopsis - A couple who is literally living the dream life can't agree on whether that's a good thing or not; and if they don't find common ground soon, they will lose each other forever.

Jeremy Sony - Cuckold Walks Into a Bar, Parallaxis
Jeremy Sony is a Midwest-based playwright and screenwriter. He is a 2013-2014 Ingram New Works Playwright at Tennessee Repertory Theatre and recipient of the 2012 Scott McPherson Playwriting Award. Sony's latest full-length play, ICHABOD: MISSING IN SLEEPY HOLLOW received its World Premiere at Street Theatre Company ClassAct Dramatics and won the 2013 Playhouse Nashville playwriting contest. His independent feature SEPARATION ANXIETY (Best Drama, 2012 Riverbend Film Festival) was produced by Glass City Films, starring Emmy-winner John Wesley Shipp and Drama Desk nominee Polly Adams. He is thrilled to return to MadLab and Theatre Roulette with PARALLAXIS and CUCKOLD WALKS INTO A BAR. His plays include ADVICE TO THE HAPPY COUPLE (MadLab, Theatre Roulette 2013), THE COSMONAUT IN HUMAN RESOURCES (Luna Theatre), Spin Cycle (2010 Heideman Award Finalist, Actors Theatre of Louisville), AGAINST THE PANE (Penobscot Theater), MEETING GOD ON A TUESDAY MORNING and DO THEY EXPEDITE THERE (Curtain Players Theater), and FRACKTURE, which was developed through the Ohio University MFA Playwrights Workshop, TAGS New Play Project, and Ohio University Seabury Quinn, Jr. Playwrights Festival, thanks in part to support from the 2012-2013 Anthony Trisolini Graduate Fellowship. Sony's plays have also been seen at Western Michigan University and The Last Frontier Theatre Conference. Sony is co-founder of Theatre Daedalus, a company devoted to new play development, where he has produced numerous short play festivals including the PROJECT 10 series, CAUGHT IN THE ACT!, CAUGHT IN THE ACT...AGAIN!, and TRIPLE PLAY. Sony holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Ohio University and a B.A. in Film & Television from the University of Notre Dame. He has studied under playwrights Charles Smith, Erik Ramsey, and Kara Lee Corthron. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and many social media sites under the handle @JeremyWrites and at www.jeremysony.com.

Synopsis - Parallaxis
Axis is sitting on The Edge of mortality. The victim of a mall stabbing, he is met by two beings that call themselves Mat and Devyn. Pulled between life and death, Axis discovers more about who he is and the choice that sits before him.

Synopsis - Cuckold Walks Into a Bar
Tony's having a crap day. He just wants to have a beer. Or five. He's not talking to his wife, he got fired, and wait... what happened with the zebra at the zoo? He's just avoiding the issue, but how long can that go on before the world brings the fight to him?

Erik Sternberger - The Duty Free ShopErik Sternberger, is an improviser, an actor, a writer, an animator and a retired Superman model. Erik graduated from Purdue University with a BS in Computer Graphics and Technology and uses it to create dirty animations for FunnyOrDie.com. Erik is a co-founding member of [redacted] comedy as well as a member of Full Frontal Nudity improv. He has studied improv and writing at Second City, and performed with O.G. Productions in addition to his being an ensemble member at MadLab. This is his second produced work not counting the massive productions he would stage with action figures growing up.

Synopsis - The Duty Free Shop at the End of the World is a play that looks at all the things we take with us and what we are willing to leave behind as we move on to new experiences, lives or even planets.

Stephen Woosley - Tragic FunStephen Woosley has had his work performed by OGP, MadLab's 3in30, and Mind the Gap Theatre. He has also written a number of sketches for MadLab's Too Much Christmas series (2005-2007) and The Sketch Show. Tragic Fun is his first Roulette selection. He has a cat named Chloe.

Synopsis - Even in Hell on Earth, life's better with company. But, it's a lot harder to keep the company you keep.

Production History - This is the first version of this play to be produced. A shorter 140 word version was part of a reading by Mind The Gap Theatre in 2013 as part of their celebration of World Theatre Day.

Open Book
Featuring 7 selections chosen from over 1100 submissions sent in from all over the U.S. and beyond, just as in past versions of Theatre Roulette. All are directed by Jim Azelvandre. Christopher Lockheardt - Lost in Thought, Take the Words From Out of My Mouth

With these two Roulette entries, MadLab has now produced twelve of Christopher Lockheardt's plays. A dozen productions. That calls for a celebration! But wait . . . counting 3 in 30: Chain, it's actually been 12.3 productions. Darn it. Where am I supposed to get a third of a candle for this cake?

Synopsis - Take the Words From Out of My Mouth
A man tries to decipher a woman's desperate message.

Production History - Take the Words From Out of My Mouth
Fusion Theater, Albuquerque, NM, June 2013
Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport, MA, January 2014

Production History - Lost in Thought
Boston Theater Marathon, Boston, MA, May 2013
Source Festival, Washington, D.C., June 2013

Steven Korbar - All the Way
Steven's full-length and one-act plays have been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and throughout the United States and Canada. His drama, "Table for Four", was published in Smith and Kraus' "Best Short Plays of 2011"; as was his comedy "Mrs. Jansen Isn't Here Now". Other productions include "I Understand Your Frustration" at the Turtleshell Theatre NYC, "Let Go" at Future Ten in Pittsburgh, "Hard" at Elephant Stageworks in LA, "Circles" at Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha and "The Disappearance of Small Objects" at the Odyssey Theatre in LA and "What are You Going to Be?", which won the "Merce" award at the 2012 10-minute play festival at the Secret Rose Theatre in LA and was recently published in "Best 10-Minute Plays of 2013".

Synopsis - An old man waits alone in a hotel room when a young prostitute arrives. Initially the man's behavior is strange, even threatening- he insists the girl wear a worn, out of date dress and dance with him. But as they sway to a Sinatra song, he admits the dress belonged to his wife, who is ill and no longer recognizes him. His confession of love and longing is the one thing the calloused young woman is unprepared for and, as they dance, she mourns what he has lost and what she has never known.

Production History -
At the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha NB as part of "Shelterbelt in Love". (2013).
At Impact Theatre in Prospect Heights, NY (2008).
As part of "Pick of the Vine" at Little Fish Theatre in LA (2009).

Cast
Syd - Jim Azelvandre
Lynn - Courtney Deuser

Erik Champney - The Screens
Erik Champney was fifteen years old when he was first commissioned to write a full-length play for Peter Pan Players, a renowned children's theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana. The play, THE ADVENTURES OF SCAMP, was a critical and artistic success, and Erik has been actively writing ever since. His work has been developed, commissioned, and produced in several cities, including New York, Seattle, and Singapore. Current projects include an adaptation of Federico Fellini's ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL, in development with River City Repertory Theatre in Shreveport, Louisiana, and an adaptation of Mac Barnett's popular storybook OH NO! OR HOW MY SCIENCE PROJECT DESTROYED THE WORLD for Shreve Memorial Library. Erik's play, DEAD BRAINS, is the recipient of the National AIDS Fund/CFDA-Vogue Initiative Award for Playwriting presented by The Kennedy Center. It first appeared as a reading by Centenary College of Louisiana at the American College Theatre Festival, followed by a staged reading at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. DEAD BRAINS had its world premiere production at the Seattle Fringe Festival, where it played to sold-out houses and was awarded as an audience favorite. Other full-length plays include PANGAEA (World Premiere, Centenary College of Louisiana; Commendation for Excellence, The Kennedy Center), OMEN ROAD TO STARRVILLE (Workshop and Concert Reading, NYU Tisch Asia), JACOB IN (Workshop and Reading, NYU Tisch Asia; Workshop Production, Young Playwrights, Inc.), CRAB ON ITS BACK (Workshop, NYU Tisch Asia), and COMING TO TERMS WITH ALLISON WONDERLAND (Staged Reading, Northwest Actors Studio). Short plays include THE SCREENS (Selection, Short+Sweet Singapore; I ___ YOU, Panglossian Productions), LOUIS (Word of Mouth, Home Club, Singapore), EIGHT BLOCKS FROM EDGAR (Home and Away, NYU Tisch Asia), IF YOU DON'T CARE (Blink of an Eye, NYU Tisch Asia), and SAITAMA
(Workshop, NYU Tisch Asia). Erik is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and was formerly a member of Young Playwrights, Inc., which afforded him the opportunity to study with John Weidman and Wendy Wasserstein, among others. He received a B.A. in Theatre and a B.A. in English from Centenary College of Louisiana followed by an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Synopsis - THE SCREENS is a startling drama about the unanswered questions shadowing a mysterious disappearance. As a patient in a mental hospital engages an unfamiliar visitor, he realizes the two might share a frightening connection. Combining delusion with truth, THE SCREENS confronts the harrowing distance between trauma and restoration.

Production History -
February 17, 2012 I ___ You, Panglossian Productions, Williamsburg, VA
Workshop Production
December 1 - 17, 2011 Short + Sweet Singapore (EVENT CANCELLED)
Official Selection for Production

Alex Dremann - Agnes and the Vegan Burrito
Alex is thrilled to be back at Madlab again after On the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning (2007), The Narcolpetic Pillow Fight (2010), Four Dry Tongues (2010), The Peach (2012), Conception (2013), and the full length"The :nv:s:ble Play" (2013). He has had over 200 productions of his short plays performed in the US, UK, Australia, India and New Zealand and is currently the producing artistic director of Secret Room Theatre in Philadelphia.

Synopsis - Over a burrito lunch, two best friends finally reveal the truth about Agnes.

Mark Harvey Levine - Workin' on the Railroad
Mark Harvey Levine has had over 1000 productions of his short plays all over the world from New York to Seoul to London to New Delhi. Previous Theatre Roulettes have shown his plays "Surprise", "Saver", "The Rental", "That Word", "Up On The Roof" and "Misfortune". He was honored to have his evening of short plays "Cabfare For The Common Man" produced in a wonderful production right here at Madlab. His "The Interview" was seen at 3 in 30 last year. It is his goal to have everything he's ever written produced at Madlab. Evenings of his work have also played in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo (in Portuguese!), Sydney, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Indianapolis and elsewhere. He lives in Pasadena with his lovely wife and son. Huge thanks to Andy Batt and everyone at Madlab. More info at www.markharveylevine.com.

Synopsis - Life is tough in the old west. Especially when you're trying to put a band together.

Production History -
"Workin' On The Railroad" was produced by Artist's Exchange at The
Black Box Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island in July, 2013. It has
also been chosen to appear in the Snowdance Festival in Racine, WI in
January, 2014.

Andrew Biss - The Craft
The works of author and playwright Andrew Biss have been produced in New York, London, Los Angeles, and many other cities across North America, Europe and Australia. His plays have won awards on both coasts of the U.S., critical acclaim in the U.K., and are an Off-Off-Broadway mainstay. In New York his plays have been produced at Theatre Row Studios, The Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Festival, Emerging Artists Theatre, The Kraine Theater, The Red Room Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, Mind The Gap Theatre, 3Graces Theatre Company, Curan Repertory Company, Turtle Shell Productions, Pulse Ensemble Theatre, American Globe Theatre, The American Theater of Actors, and Chashama Theatres, among others. He is published by Bedford/St. Martin's, Smith & Kraus, Inc., Meriwether Publishing Ltd., and JAC Publishing & Promotions. Andrew is a graduate of the University of the Arts London, and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.

Synopsis - It's Act 2, Scene 3 in another night's performance of a less-than-riveting romantic drama. As the two young leads navigate their turgid love scene, employing all their dramatic skills in an attempt to breathe life into their two-dimensional characters, another, far more gripping story is unfolding just beneath the surface. Despite a mutual loathing of each other, a devotion to the craft ensures that the show will go on; but the inner dialogues that play out inside each of them reveal a far different narrative than the one being performed on the stage.

Production History -
Central Coast TheatreFest, NSW, Australia
June 2013